Its a long way to Bremerhaven

178 2 2
                                    

12th of February, 1942

Southwest Pacific

500 km from the Louzon, Philippines (abandoned)*

300 km from Formosa (Taiwan) (militarized)

Time: 1250 hours

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After leaving Pearl Harbor, München decided to simply avoid all possible Siren encounters known to mankind, as well as all military installations and militarized islands known to her. She simply didn't want any unfriendly encounters and possible random inspections that could lead to her arrest and possible convoluted bureaucratic mishaps, thus putting her under a random flag with the Ironbloods unable to do anything.

This is only a worst-case scenario, but she doesn't want to waste any time. With the loss of her right arm, she doesn't want to keep the scaredy-cat on her ship any longer than necessary. Fortunately, she was able to make contact with a Sakuran fleet and an American task force protecting the last civilian settlements in the Philippines.

As far as the story goes, the Sirens, who appeared in the 1910s, had attacked various settlements and coastal installations, initially hindering the ability of humans to fight back. This left the Sirens free to roam the vast Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. One of the colonies attacked by the Sirens was the Philippines, which the Eagle Union had secured from the Iberian-Union War of 1895, in which the Iberian Empire lost all of its overseas forces in a decisive naval battle.

With the Wisdom Cubes the manpower shortages, as ships were sunk faster than recruits could be assimiliated with their newly commissioned ships, was soon dealt with. Nontheless, the islands were endangered. With the constant attacks, anti-flooding countermeasures were also destroyed, further making numerous coastal cities uninhabitable, forcing many people, who had initially survived the famines, attacks, and now mother nature, had to evacuate.

Many people, especially the local and ethnic population, refused to leave their homeland, but were reluctantly relocated to other areas. Thus, Louzon, like many other islands in the Pacific and Atlantic, was abandoned to consolidate the local armed forces, both ground and naval.

And today, München was about to see both the American Far Eastern Force and a small Sakuran naval fleet meet at the same spot. Located between the island of Formosa, once owned by the Dragon Empery but lost in the First Sino-Sakuran War, and the abandoned island of Louzon in the Philippines, the fighting that had taken place here in the early days of the battle (Crimson Axis vs. Azure Lane) clearly showed that both sides were still tired of each other.

On her port side, she soon saw two Pensacola-class heavy cruisers, three Omaha-class light cruisers, five Farragut-class destroyers, and four Port-class destroyers. On her starboard side, the Sakuran Force came over the horizon, consisting of two Furutaka-class heavy cruisers, three converted Nagara-class light cruisers, and six Mutsuki-class destroyers.

Each was a formidable force in its own right and could probably take over the battlefield right here and now if it weren't for the escort and recovery mission for the respective parties. In the light fog that covered the seas, only the superstructures and high mounted turrets broke the fog and looked like they were breaking the seas.

As the heavy capital ships closed the distance, the LashCarrier saw the guns of both ships not resting, but slowly rising. She quickly grabbed the radio and announced her presence. "Attention, both Sakuran Empire and Eagle Union naval forces: Do not fire on yourselves! I can see the cannons going up in the sky on both sides! I am not a fool who does not know what those 20cm guns can do to each other.]"

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